First sighting of a brown hyena

We were in the photo hide after sunrise when our lion tracking team radioed to say they had found the Nduna Pride of lions on a buffalo kill about 30 minutes away, and then added that they’d glimpsed a brown hyena in the area too. Having never had a proper sighting of a brown hyena my ears were pricked. No doubt it would probably be gone when we got there, but you can’t catch a fish without a line in the water – as they say. So, we swiftly packed up and set off. About half way there the team radioed again to say we must hurry because they hyena was still around. We hurried harder.

Arriving at the scene we found the lions lying in the long grass near their recently killed buffalo. They’d eaten their fill and were taking a break but there was still an enormous amount of meat on the carcass. But, there was no sign of the brown hyena. The lion tracking team told us it had moved off. Both vehicles went in search of it, in different directions, but no luck. After some time observing the lions we left the area and, of course, that’s when the brown hyena reappeared, according to the team. We turned back, and this time parked far away from the carcass and waited, binos in hand. What happened next was something entirely new for me.

Out of the thickets, moving with a sloping, deliberate gait, a brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) appeared. Sometimes called the strandwolf, it is the rarest of all hyena species, found only in southern Africa, with fewer than 10 000 estimated to exist. I had always known they were elusive, mostly active under the cover of night, but here one was, revealed in mid-morning light.

It looked strikingly different from the spotted hyenas we see so often. Its long, shaggy brown coat bristled along its back, and a pale ruff of cream-colored fur framed its neck. Its striped legs carried it forward cautiously, ears pricked, nose lifted to catch the scent of the lions’ kill. It was bigger than I expected, about 70- 80 cm at the shoulder, but there was a quiet confidence in its posture - this was a master scavenger, built for exactly this moment.

The brown hyena circled wide at first, assessing the danger. Lions are known to kill brown hyenas when territories overlap, and even a single misstep could have ended this animal’s life. Still, it seemed to be calculating the risk. Brown hyenas can survive in harsh deserts and rocky savannahs, ranging hundreds of square kilometres in search of food, and this opportunity was too rich to ignore.

It crossed the road, snuck behind a bush, and appeared at the head of the carcass. My heart was racing – the last thing I wanted to see was a brown hyena being killed. It might have got one mouthful, it was all so quick I couldn’t tell, but a lionesses erupted with a snarl, lunging just enough to send the intruder scrambling back. The hyena had realised in that instant that there were several lions hidden in the golden grass and this meal was worth skipping to stay alive.

I quickly checked my camera realizing what I had just captured: my first brown hyena here on the Malilangwe Reserve, one of Africa’s most elusive carnivores, playing its age-old role as the opportunist of the bush. They are rare, near-threatened, and so secretive, yet there it was to remind me that the wild still holds secrets, so many secrets, and if you are lucky you still get to glimpse them.

Returning to the scene later that afternoon we found no trace of the brown hyena, but the lions were tucking into the carcass again in another fierce bout of feeding.

Here are some more facts about brown hyenas: